Potential Buyer

[stevep1066]

Hi guys

The other half is looking for a 2.2 Rav to tow her gee gees, needs to be the 2.2 for the 2000kg capability. Shes lookjng at a 2006 ish model. Been surfing around but anything she needs to watch out for?

Cheers in advance

[Raistlin]

Here's the Parkers review:

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/owners-reviews/toyota/rav4/estate-2006/review/20120509023336/

[firemac]

Hi Steve,

We've had 7 Toyotas in the past 13 years, 4 of them RAV's including the 2012 2.2 DCat Auto that we currently run.

I rate the RAV4 in all of its iterations as one of the best cars you can buy. The only thing to watch out for with the early 4.3 2.2's is the possibility of head gasket failure. Toyota manned up to this and provided engine rplacements and a goodwill 7 year warranty for affected cars. Cars since 2008-ish appear to have been successfully modified in production with no recorded instances since then. Certainly I had no qualms about buying our current 4.3.

But you need to be careful with cars from 2006 - 2008. Read this link from the pinned section above, which gives you all the info on what to look out for

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/132178-charliefarlies-guide-to-the-toyota-2ad-diesel-engine-and-its-issues/

As long as you are going for a later RAV or one that has had the engine replaced under Toyota's programme you should be fine.

Good luck.

[stevep1066]

Ok , if the engine wasn't replaced and they're now at 90k mileage is the gasket still likely to be faulty

[Mike169]

Hi Steve

Yes you are correct in what you say and all of the advise you have been given is very good. Another suggestion is if you find a vehicle you like before parting with any money write down the reg. number and take it to a Toyota main dealer and they can tell you in their computers if the engine has been changed, this small step could save you heaps of possible future problems.

Regards Mike.

[gjnorthall]

Not every 2AD engine succumbs to the oil burning / head gasket problem but it's not possible to predict which will fail. I'm generalising, but the higher the mileage, the less likely the problem is to develop and plenty of such cars go on to cover mega miles. The problem is that the repair is very expensive and many owners have sold a Rav on the basis that they have no peace of mind as to the ongoing reliability of the car. Many potential owners simply wouldn't buy an 06 - 09 car unless the engine had been replaced.

[redlew]

I would carefully check the weight of trailer and horses . I've got the mark 2 which has the lower capacity of 1500kg. If you look round shows you will find that a lot of tow cars are older discos, jeeps and land cruisers. I wouldn't really describe a rav as ideally suited for towing horse trailers -caravans may be a different matter.